>>1492143OSM is mostly a crowdsourced database, with the only service on offer an editing API meant to be used by apps. The geocoding API, map tiles, tile server stuff, and associated applications are all third party. They do host their own tile server, but its use is limited because they can't afford the kind of infrastructure or the employees it would take to serve a ton of data. That falls to companies like Mapbox, who provide the map data, API, and serve tiles for Strava and many companies, who build their own services on top. They employ 400-500 people and contribute a lot to OSM. So does Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft. OSM definitely isn't gathering, tracking, and analyzing data in near real time from nearly 50 million users.
>>1492970They do not. All of the data created with those apps is stored client-side. Strava stores everything server-side, which is how they're able to do segments, analytics, and social.
>>1492758Strava Metro provides info to city planners who are interested in bike commuting patterns, although from what I've heard from transportation engineers here in Portland, it's of limited use. If Strava really does manage to expand as a social network and get a lot more data, it may become more useful for planning. I think it's more likely that they'll die in a year or finally be acquired.
>>1492558You can set your rides to private and fuzz your start and finish areas, but most people don't give a shit about randoms. For the most part they're giving their buddies kudos and shit. Sometimes I'll rag my roadie friends for not having enough climbing in their routes. Also, you're giving Strava less data than Google/Apple, your telco, handset manufacturer, and god knows who else. When you get a smartphone you're essentially relinquishing ownership of your data. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be selective about who you give it to, but I think that Strava is more benign than many.
